Individuals benefit from living in a society where criminal justice systems operate effectively to minimise harm to people and property. There are high financial costs incurred in preventing crime, providing justice infrastructure, repairing criminal damage, supporting victims and dealing with offenders.

Crime victimisation

Household crime in NSW has decreased since 2000, while personal crime has remained relatively steady. Household crime, which includes break and enters, attempted break and enters and motor vehicle thefts, declined from a peak of 11% in 2001 to 6.5% of households in 2007. Contributing to this decline in household crime was a reduction in break and enters which decreased from 6.3% in 2001 to 3.2% in 2007.

Between 2000 and 2007 personal crime, which includes robbery, assault and sexual assault, moved within a range of between 4% to 6%.

Crime victimisation rate(a), NSW

Antisocial behaviour

In 2007, an estimated 54% of persons did not think there were any crime or public nuisance problems in their neighbourhood. This was unchanged from the 2006 figure (53%).

Of those who did perceive problems in their neighbourhood, the proportion of people who perceived drunkenness to be a problem increased from 14% in 2000 to 19% in 2007. Over the same period of time the proportion of people who perceived dangerous or noisy driving and louts or youth gangs to be a problem remained relatively steady.

One commonly used measure of reoffending is whether a person convicted of an offence is subsequently reconvicted of another offence within 2 years. Of those offenders who were convicted in 2004, 29% of adult offenders and 50% of juvenile offenders reoffended within 2 years.

For those convicted in 2004, higher reoffending rates were found for young people aged 10–13 years (68%) and 14–17 years (49%) than for older age groups (35–44 years, 27% and 45 years and over, 16%). Reoffending was also higher for Indigenous youth (72%) and Indigenous adults (53%).